10 Most Effective Wrestling Babyfaces Of The 21st Century

7. Jeff Hardy

John Cena WrestleMania XXV
WWE.com

Jeff Hardy was on fire as a babyface between 2007 and 2009.

His rise to prominence was engineered as a result of the respect he commanded after years of sacrifice, but his winning combination of daredevil moves and rock star posturing made him fans across the divided WWE spectrum. Broadly, he was a version of Mick Foley women and children could get on board with: a true universal babyface for a fractured, violent age. His series with Triple H was so good and so welcome that it even excused Trips' trademark rampant ego, erm, trips. His casual acceptance of Hardy's win over him at Armageddon 2007 would have portrayed most others as a fluke, but not Hardy. His popularity was politics-proof.

Hardy arguably never reached the breakout potential he had. He tired of the arduous WWE grind to such an extent that he preferred to get lost in the lowly TNA shuffle than ascend to the WrestleMania main event - but his legacy was the creation of CM Punk as one of WWE's most reviled heels.

WWE rather p*ssed that away, but Hardy has endured as one of wrestling's most beloved acts even after showing up out of his head on a heavily-hyped pay-per-view. His bond with fans is unshakeable.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!